[Closed] Cornering technique

Fairhurst is the most amazing troll ever!!!

See, I'm not quite so sure, he's so far beyond a STW self parody he's gone full circle and wears a met parachute. I think he should go see Jedi, not because he needs more skilz*, but because the resulting "When fairhurst met Jedi" video would probably cause forum meltdown!

*who was the young scallywag who talked like that on here years ago and everyone assumed was troling?

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is worth a watch.

You want to learn about descending, watch a real pro...

where do you see Sam Hill put his outside foot down

for one thing there are few corners where he needs the extra traction, and the frequency and shortness of the corners don't give him time, so it would be counterproductive.

However you do see him several times shifting his weight to the outside by turning his hips into the corner and sliding his hips to the outside slightly, as in that 2nd link I posted. 53s and 1.46 are examples.

Do you put your outside foot down round every corner?

no, but then I never said I was a good rider - just after a lesson with Jedi I started looking at how riders manage their bikes more and there is a definite commonality to the good riders technique.

This is worth a watch.

I have that DVD - it is very good. It says exactly what I was saying though.

Precisely Turnerguy. I entirely agree with you, the post was not aimed at you it was aimed at the bloke that suggested the fact that putting your outside foot down can be a hindrance was bollocks.

If you ever wonder over to the Southerndownhill forums most of them will tell you to do it on fast flat turns.

Some of you are missing what I am saying, I don't advocate leaning more than the bike. I'm saying some racers have a bias towards chucking their weight around more than leaning the bike and that technique can and does work for them.

You can't pump a bike into the ground if you're hanging off the inside of it - you need to be on top or the force is going the wrong way! And you can't corner seriously fast if you aren't pushing the bike into the ground when you need maximum grip.

A lot depends on tyres too. Some are rounder in profile, others have a more obvious transition from the flat to side knobs ans so need the bike further over to make the knobs bite. Different riders have different styles, hence why the perfect tyre for one rider might be useless for another......

We're all different.

An interesting thread.. For the most part I agree with Bwaarps first comment - whatever works best for you.
Personally I find the outside foot down works well for most situations, and for flatter corners getting a little more weight over the front of the bike, that's just me, I'm no Steve Peat.
Braking whilst cornering is a mistake I used to make, once I got out of that habit I definately got faster overall.

Fairhurst is that not a parody of Simon Ralli of this parish, if not apologies incredibly similiar riding styles 😀 .

Fairhurst is that not a parody of Simon Ralli of this parish, if not apologies incredibly similiar [s]riding[/s][b] walking[/b] styles

what I think interesting is that move that is being hinted at when people say to turn your hips into the turn, or kick your knee into the turn, which then opens up the axis for you to slid your hips back out over the bike, as shown in the leelikesbikes link.

Pretty much all you need to know

allmountainventure - Member
Pretty much all you need to know

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVEh9Tby54g

Northwind - Member
My brain's totally wired to lean with the bike, right into the corner, after too many years on motorbikes, and though I'm basically sympathetic to "whatever works, as long as you're having fun", it's still a crap way to go round a corner on a mountain bike.

This would explain why you couldn't get on with Rubber Queens.

take a look at yourselves and wonder why you're not world cup level riders

technique is one thing, controlling what's in your head is another...

that video precisely says what I was pointing out - 1. he shows the knee/hips thing and 2. he shows the bit about leaning more than the bike and the tyres breaking away.

that was on a DVD called Skills For Thrills on the July 2011 issue of Mountain Bike UK, 'cos it is one of the few mtb mags I bought that year.

i only watched the first peaty vid. outside foot down, leaning on inside grip.... all good

rudedog - Member

This would explain why you couldn't get on with Rubber Queens.

Nah, not really, though I know where you're coming from- I can do it right when the brain's working, it's just that I tend to fall back into the bad habits whenever things aren't working well or I'm rushing things. But tbh I found the rubber queens very good when cornering badly 🙂 Tons of stood-up grip.

So, in summary, on loose surfaces, for any given corner and speed you need to move the combined centre of gravity inwards to get keep the bike balanced and get round the bend. Whether you do this by leaning the bike or your body will not affect the position of the combined rider and bike CofG so the only thing that really changes is which part of the tyre is in contact with the ground. If your tyres are the type with big lugs at the side then you'll get better grip by leaning the bike to get onto the edges. If you're tall this is more important than if you're small. Either way, your weight is going to be on the outer pedal

In short, it doesn't matter much.

My experience-

For general riding, keeping things nicely controlled and predictable, the safe option. Leaning bike, dropping outside pedal, keeping body essentially in the same place (upright), weight on top hand (maybe, having trouble picturing it). If i want to pump bike through the turn in this manner, a rotation of the hips, pushing out through my feet.

If i feel like drifting, i initiate the tyres breaking away by leaning body with bike until i can feel the tyres breakaway. To stop the drift, i either pull bike upright or start cranking. If i want to continue and control drift, i revert back to the position outlined in first paragraph.

As for the pros, i have no idea. I've attended a load of ghetto dual races with a load of local heroes. They're very muddy and slidey. People like peaty and bryceland make it look like they're not even doing anything, or even turning. They make exceptional line choices that make the track look straight. Any turns that look like turns though, they are dropping the crank and leaning the bike. A major difference i've noticed in their technique to most mortals is that their weight is very central, not really pushing on the front for grip. It sort of makes sense, maybe, you can generate more pump in that position, generating more force on the tyres and hence grip, maybe 😐

So in short - leaning bike, dropping crank, body upright, it's the way to do it. Leaning body and bike makes the tyres breakaway, you may or may not want this. If a berm is a good size, lean body with bike.

I'd like to be able to offer some advice, but I ride a 29er and therefore have no experience of cornering on a mountain bike as my wheels don't allow it.

I've got a 29er too, so [b]that's[/b] where I've been going wrong.

Close your eyes, while shouting "Look Mum!"

So, in summary, on loose surfaces, for any given corner and speed you need to move the combined centre of gravity inwards to get keep the bike balanced and get round the bend.

You must be summarising a different thread - that's pretty much the opposite of what is being said here and in the videos, particularly the "All Mountain Basic Biking Skills" one above.

This little section of corners/switchbacks took me 40 minutes of pushing back up and re-trying before I managed it without a dab (or a crash).

[img] [/img]

Technique is easy to read about or watch but harder to put it to use whilst trying to avoid pointy stuff and trees.

sunnrider - looks fun

You must be summarising a different thread - that's pretty much the opposite of what is being said here and in the videos, particularly the "All Mountain Basic Biking Skills" one above.

By 'balanced' I mean to stop it falling outwards which is what would happen if you turned the bars and didn't move the CofG inwards.

Most of the WC downhill tracks are so steep the inside foot down technique doesn't work as it would put the weight distribution all to pot. Like that Sam Hill vid shows a lot use their hips to force weight onto the tires. Another thing I have found after riding with some friends here who are all ex-downhill racers is that they lean their heads way out front over the bars to get extra grip on the front tire.

This little section of corners/switchbacks took me 40 minutes of pushing back up and re-trying before I managed it without a dab (or a crash).

you're doing it wrong

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The outside foot down thing is an exaggerated movement to get people weighting the bike properly.

Sam Hill is still transferring his weight to the outside pedal, just not in such an exaggerated way. His outside foot moves lower than the inside. His outside heel drops more. He moves his hips over the saddle to the outside of the corner etc...

Sorry, but that's now considered technical? wtf?

You really [i]don't[/i] need to be a STW riding god to get down that on two wheels...

Yes, he [b]could[/b] have ridden from the start point to the end point in a straight line, but I thought the point was to practice corners.

you're doing it wrong

I think I´ll have that etched on my tombstone.

Fairhurst is that not a parody of Simon Ralli of this parish, if not apologies incredibly similiar riding styles

😕

surely one and the same, loving your work.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mabies-secrets-the-video

i have not been fortunate to have rode mabie yet,but i will be doing in the near future
i have seen that video before and it is a very little film.

loving your work.